Inevitable
by maddieluvs
Summary: When Clementine is in danger, the Ericson kids are forced to let a new group in the school for help. To Clem's surprise, Gabe is among this new group. Will the new people cause trouble, and a rift between Clem and Louis? Are they hiding something sinister? Takes place after s4.
1. Chapter 1

**This chapter is a little short, but I consider it to be more of an intro. Chapter 2 will be here soon. I hope you all like my story, I haven't published here in a while! I'm hoping my writing skills aren't too bad. Please excuse any grammar errors I may have missed. Enjoy!**

**Inevitable 01 - Forever (Intro)**

* * *

"Getting tired, Clem?"

"Yeah," I managed to gasp out, leaning on my crutches. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired."

I huffed as I used my crutches to pull myself forward once more. The muddy terrain was making it hard to push through it, and it had been like that since it rained the day before. Louis and I were on lookout that night and were doing rounds on the perimeter of the school. We were almost done, but I was exhausted already.

There was a warm breeze in the air as the night seemed to get darker by the second. The only light source was the moon and the crackling torches by the entrance of the school building. Fire from the torch illuminated the overgrown grass and part of the dirt trail that spanned from the front porch to the gates of the school. I looked up at Louis's face, and a yellowish-red light lit up his features. His freckles were apparent as ever, his chocolate eyes striking me as more brown than black in the light.

He smirked at me, and I could tell he had an idea in that exuberant brain of his. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Here, get on my back," he said, turning around and reaching his arms out towards me.

I laughed and shook my head. "No way I'm doing that, I can still walk."

Without any further word, he scooped me up off the ground and placed me on his back. "Hey, Louis!" I exclaimed, clinging onto him. Last thing I wanted to do was fall off and break my only leg I had left.

"Shh, the walkers will hear you," he chuckled, and started walking.

"What about my crutches?" I asked, looking back. They were on the ground now, almost hidden by the overgrown grass and mud.

"What about them?" He responded, carrying me forward.

I shook my head and laughed, bringing my face closer to his ear. "You're an asshole," I said quietly, wrapping my arms around his chest. Though I would've preferred to walk on my own, I had to admit that I enjoyed being carried by Louis. For one, my body got a well-deserved break from the strain of using crutches. Second, it made me feel good. It was a warm and safe feeling, him carrying me and me trusting that he wouldn't drop me or do something that he would most likely do otherwise.

"So I've been told," he said back, making it to the front gates of the school. "Many, many times. By you."

I looked up at the ladder that led to the small watch tower. There was no way he would climb that with me on his back, I would definitely fall. I already knew he was going to attempt to do it anyway. "Louis, _no_," I warned, to no avail.

Louis began climbing the ladder, going quickly even with the extra weight. I held on even tighter, afraid of being dropped. "Don't worry, Clem, I've trained for this moment for years," he said in a fake-serious tone.

"Carrying a girl with an amputated leg up a watch tower against her will?"

"Exactly. It's sort of an Olympic sport, if you will."

Once we got to the top, Louis stood on top of the tower and let me down. I hobbled over to the front and sat myself down, leg dangling over the edge. I had to admit; I really did miss my leg. I wonder if that's how Lee felt when he was missing his arm. I wish he had been as lucky as me, and for that I was grateful. The fact that I was still alive was a miracle. It made me see everything differently and made me realize what Louis said all that time ago was true: we didn't know how much time we had left. I was sure I'd never live to see the next day or see AJ's face ever again. I was sure that AJ swinging that axe down on my head would be the final thing I'd see before it all was over. Instead, Louis and I were sitting next to each other on a warm and humid summer night, looking at the forest and the stars.

I looked up at the sky, the stars shining brighter than ever before it seemed. "What time do you think it is?" I asked, leaning back onto my sore arms.

"I'd say 3am," he replied, eyebrows furrowed. "Depends on if we're going by daylight savings time or not."

"That's not a thing anymore," I replied, smiling to myself. I only remembered one instance when I was younger, when my parents forgot to adjust their alarm clock when the time changed, and we were all late to work and school the next morning.

My arms buckled under the pressure I was putting on them, so I sat up and shook them out. "Arms tired?" Louis asked, "Again?"

"They always are," I sighed, letting them fall to my sides. Everything was tired when it came to me. I still had to adjust to the extra strength I had to use in place of my missing leg. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the Ericson kids.

Louis looked over at me with concern, then said, "You can lean on me if you want. I'm all yours."

I looked over at him and let out a small laugh. "Are you, now?"

"Since day one," he replied, grinning. He was always grinning. "I always thought you were scary when we first met you. But in a good kind of way."

"Scary _good_?" I asked, laughing. "What about me is so scary?"

He sighed. "Oh, you know, just the fact that you're missing a leg but could probably still beat me in a fight."

I shrugged and nodded, not fighting him on that one. Slowly, I leaned myself toward him so that my head was resting on his shoulder.

We both looked up at the stars, admiring the beautiful night. No walkers were in sight, no bandits had come by since we got rid of them all 2 weeks ago. It was completely peaceful. If I pretended hard enough, it almost felt like walkers didn't exist. Everything was perfect.

Louis must've felt the same way, because he gently pulled my face to his and kissed me. Our lips met first, and I grasped onto his arm to bring him closer. My tongue brushed against his bottom lip, wanting more.

I wasn't sure if it was because of the setting, or because of my gratefulness of life itself, or even a combination of both, but in between breaths I blurted out the three words I had been thinking about all night. "I love you," I gasped, pulling away from the kiss and looking at him.

Quickly looking back down and away from his eyes, I waited for his answer. He looked shocked and then laughed, the same way he did when I kissed him for the first time. "I love you too, Clementine," he responded, pulling me back in for our make out session. I felt butterflies in my stomach as we melted into each other, my arms around his neck and his hands all over me.

We weren't new to making out, especially these past couple of weeks. The group was constantly telling us how tired they were of watching us kiss, and Violet made sure we knew how sick she was of _hearing_ us kiss. But this time felt different than the last times. My face felt hot as I pulled him close to me, and Louis's hands were right on my hips, fiddling with the belt loops on my jeans. I had a feeling that I couldn't explain, but it was driving me crazy. All I wanted was him. Louis.

I leaned back onto the surface of the wooden tower and pulled Louis on top of me by his shirt. I could feel his heart beat on my chest and it was beating faster than ever. So was mine. With my hands, I placed them under his shirt and began feeling his abdomen before tugging at the hem of his shirt.

Before I knew it, he was shirtless while he began taking off my shirt so that I was left only with my bra. Once he put my shirt to the side, he looked at me with warm and rosy cheeks. "Clem, you sure you wanna do this? With your leg and all?" he asked me, gesturing over to my stump. Sure, that was working against me at the moment and I was a little tired out from dragging myself around on crutches, but that didn't matter to me. All I wanted was to be even closer to Louis than we ever had before.

Though I didn't know much about the subject, I wasn't _completely_ clueless about what happens next. I thought back to years ago, when Kate told me all I needed to know about sex. Well, she told me the basics after Javier awkwardly suggested I ask her about periods and womanhood. From what I could remember, she told me to save sex for someone you love and trust and makes you feel safe, and no one else. When she described the specifics, I wondered how in the world anyone would want to do that. She only laughed and told me I'd understand why in the future.

It was the future now, and I think I understood. Back to Louis's question, I nodded my head. "I'm sure," I said, "Now stop talking."

He chuckled. "You're the boss," he replied, kissing me deeply. We didn't get much further before we both jumped at the sudden noise in the distance. Louis and I turned our heads towards the sound.

"Clementine?! Louis?" AJ's voice rang out from afar.

"Y'all out here?" I heard Ruby call out too.

"Shit," I muttered to myself before scurrying for my shirt. Louis did the same and put his top back on, the both of us hurrying before Ruby and AJ made it over to the tower. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea," I said in a low voice, pulling my shirt back over my head.

Louis chuckled and said, "Probably not."

The other two came into view just as Louis and I were fully clothed again. I could feel my cheeks get hot as Ruby eyed us from the ground.

"Hey, just making sure y'all are alright," she said slowly, holding out my crutches. "AJ found these on the ground. He was worried something bad happened."

"We're fine," I said, scratching the back of my neck.

"We were just goofing around with the crutches, you can leave them by the tower," Louis said while looking down at the two. "Thanks for keeping an eye out, little man!"

AJ smiled and gave us a thumbs up before running back inside. Ruby lingered, suspicion in her demeanor. "Well, Willy is switching off with you two soon. We need Louis to help with berry picking in the morning. The boys found a berry bush not too far from here, raspberries I think."

I nodded. "Got it," I said, waving to Ruby. She gave us a look before turning back around and heading back indoors. As soon as she was out of sight, I turned to Louis. "She knows something was up, doesn't she?"

"Yep, she definitely does," Louis said, then turned to give me a quick peck on the cheek. "Come on, let's get you down from here. You need your rest for tomorrow. AJ and Willy have a surprise for you in the morning."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "A surprise?"

He nodded. "You'll know soon enough."

As Louis helped me down from the tower, I closed my eyes and smiled. This little family I had here was all I needed. This was what AJ needed. I could live this way forever if I could. Of course, nothing is ever forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the support, everyone! It actually makes me a little nervous knowing there are a lot of people reading my story, I haven't published a new story in a while. To reassure some reviewers, I made the story rated T for a reason lol. There won't be any detailed, inappropriate things in the story, but they _are _teens, so certain topics are bound to come up (like in the actual game). And there won't be any std's xD. **

**Also, for the story's sake, sometimes the point of view will switch to AJ if I want the readers to know something that Clementine might not know. Just a heads up :)**

**Anyway, please enjoy the chapter, and I'm working on the next as we speak!**

**Inevitable 02 - A Familiar Face**

* * *

I looked down at my leg and the new contraption on it. It was shiny, metal and plastic, with a couple of nails and screws. It felt weird on my leg, like an extra weight was added. I've had a leg there before, so why did it feel so different now? Maybe it was because I had no feeling in this leg.

"How does it feel, Clem?" AJ asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. Aasim was watching AJ from the doorway with an amused look on his face. "Did I do a good job?"

Though it felt a bit unusual having a metal and plastic leg on myself, I nodded to him. "It's amazing," I responded, smiling at him. "I guess you did make me another leg like you promised."

"It's a prostitute leg, Willy helped me make it," AJ beamed, not realizing what he just said.

I giggled to myself as Aasim laughed and crossed his arms in the distance. "Prosthetic, it's a prosthetic leg," he replied, clarifying the new word for him.

"Yeah, that's what I said," AJ replied, then pulled my arm. "Come on, let's see if you can walk."

"Whoa there, goofball," I laughed, staying seated. "We're gonna have to take it slow, I need to get used to having two legs again."

"Right..." he replied, taking everything in. For such a young kid, he was a fast learner. "Here, let's just try walking to the patio," he said, pulling on my arm again. "We can surprise everyone outside!"

I nodded and smiled, pulling my pant leg and boot over the prosthetic leg and letting AJ help me up. It almost looked like I had my leg back, as long as no one took off my boot... Aasim came over to my other side and supported me as I took a step forward with my new leg. I felt weird walking with it. I felt like if I put too much weight on it, I would snap in two. How was I ever going to walk normally with this thing? I couldn't tell AJ my uncertainties because I didn't want him to think I wasn't grateful. I was. It was just that I wasn't sure if this was going to be as easy as everyone hoped it would be. Everyone at Ericson was excited as soon as AJ announced he was making me a new leg. Especially Louis. I could tell he was hinting about it being finished last night. And I had to admit, it looked like a legit prosthetic leg you'd get at a hospital. Nothing too complex, but it looked sturdy and authentic.

With the help of AJ and Aasim, I made it outside the front door where everyone was working the day away. Violet was talking with Louis with a map of the school grounds, probably about the caravan group we saw the other day. Willy was on look out duty, and Ruby was with Omar preparing for dinner. They all turned to look at me in unison.

"Clementine's walking again!" Ruby exclaimed, causing everyone else to cheer and laugh in celebration.

"Because of her new _prosthetic_ leg," AJ said proudly, emphasizing on the word "prosthetic".

I smiled at everyone, a little overwhelmed by the celebration they were showing me. Though the new leg felt a bit uncomfortable, I couldn't get their hopes down like that and tell them. I felt like I'd been a burden to them for too long. I had to try to get used to this leg. The pit in my stomach was telling me I had to try, even though I was nervous as hell.

Louis walked closer to the porch and looked up at me with radiant eyes. "Clem, think you can you walk down the stairs?" he asked.

"Yeah, come on!" Violet beamed with amusement. "Do a pirate walk for us!"

My heart started to beat faster. _Shit, there was no way out of this_. I took a deep breath and let go of AJ and Aasim, and began to try and drag myself forward with the new leg. It felt so unnatural but I trudged forward, sweat forming on my forehead. I held onto the railing as I brought myself down the steps and everyone was cheering me on. Before I could make it past the last step, my leg seemed to give out, failing under pressure of the weight I was putting on it. I yelped and fell forward before Louis and Vi caught my fall. My knees were on the ground as they held both of my hands in support.

"You okay, Clementine?" Louis asked with concern, trying to pull me back up.

This was a dumb idea. It was too soon to try and walk on my own, and I embarrassed myself in front of everyone. I felt so disgusted with myself, for not being able to walk after all this time of trying to recover. I snatched my hands away from them and covered my mouth. I felt horrible.

Violet took a step back before saying, "She doesn't look so hot. And that's saying a lot coming from me."

A wave of sickness hit me suddenly. I puked in front of everyone, clutching my stomach as I did. _Well, that came out of nowhere_. I wasn't one to get sick very often, but maybe I wasn't sick. Maybe I was just stressing and overworking myself. "Clementine!" AJ cried, running to my side. Louis did the same, and brushed some stray hairs away from the sides of my face.

"What happened, Clem?" Louis asked, gently rubbing his hand against my back after I had finished vomiting up the berries I had for breakfast. He had never seen me sick like this in a while, so it was probably concerning. Everyone here had seen me near death when I came back after having my leg amputated by AJ. They all were so helpful with nursing me back to health, and it was probably scary for them to see me in an unhealthy state again.

"Vi, help me get Clementine to the wash room," Louis told Violet.

"Yeah, sure," she said in a low voice, helping to pick me up. "AJ, you mind taking over the spear-sharpening for now?"

AJ nodded and went over to the hunting spears we had. He was typically clingy to me, but he learned that sometimes it was okay to trust other people to keep me safe. After everything that happened in the past couple months, it was safe to say AJ trusted everyone here. We were all a close knit family at this point. Even being together for a week in the age of walkers feels like a lifetime. There's just something about killing walkers and trying to survive together that brings people closer to each other. It was the same reason Lee and I had such a strong bond, even after only knowing each other a couple months. I thought about him more than my own parents most of the time. My perspective on everything changed for the better because of walkers. It was a strange world now.

Once Louis and Violet brought me to the wash room, they sat me down on the ground next to the tub. "Crap, the bucket is outside," Louis muttered to himself. He looked over to Violet. "Vi, I'm gonna get the bucket from outside, I'll be right back."

She nodded as he exited the room, leaving me and Violet in silence. My stomach still felt sensitive, and my head was killing me. Was I really sick? I felt fine this morning when I woke up...

I decided to break the silence, to distract my upset stomach. "How's your eye, Violet?" I asked, leaning against the tub. "You seem to be adjusting well."

She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head, her blonde hair falling in front of her patched up eye. The skin on her face had healed a bit more, but the scars would always be there. I could tell; they were too deep to ever go away. "I can see some more detail now," she replied, looking around the room. "I can actually see some of everyone's facial features, but it's blurry as hell."

"Maybe we could make you some glasses somehow?" I suggested to her, breathing deeply to keep myself from feeling even more nauseous. "If I can walk again, maybe you'll see again one day."

She chuckled, and then sighed. "It's gonna take a lot more than glasses to fix my fucked up eye, but maybe they'll help me see good enough to get around easier."

I laughed a little, and she smiled back at me. At times I felt guilty for what happened to Violet. If only there was a way to keep her from getting taken by the raiders along with Louis, but there was only time to save one person. Seeing Minnie again fucked with her head, and she didn't see that she was compromised by Lilly's group. It was a shitty situation all around.

"So," Violet said, looking away then back at me. "How are things with you and Louis?"

I smiled to myself. "Great," I replied, thinking about the past couple of weeks. We had definitely grown as a couple, that was for sure. It was all new to me, but everything felt right. That was the most important thing, right? "We've gotten really close."

"So I've heard," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, trying to hold back a laugh, I assumed that by the expression on her face, anyway.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I asked, "What's so funny?"

She smiled to herself. "I'll be straight up. Ruby told me something... _interesting_ about last night," she replied, giving me a knowing look. "The watch tower, really?"

Crap, I _knew _Ruby caught on to that situation last night. I didn't know she'd tell Violet about it! I immediately felt my face turn red. "Nothing happened," I said back quickly, feeling flustered. It was true, nothing did happen! But it was embarrassing nevertheless...

"Oh, right," Violet teased, arms crossed. "_I too_ like to hang out with my friends shirtless after midnight," she giggled, then laughed.

_Shit, Ruby saw us before we could get our clothes back on?! Did AJ see? _He couldn't have seen, he would've pestered me about it earlier if he had. "I can't believe Ruby told you," I said, putting my hands over my cheeks feeling mortified. "God, I think I'm gonna be sick."

Violet then looked worried. "You mean, sick embarrassed, or sick sick?" she asked me. Before I could answer, I grabbed an empty cardboard box by my side and proceeded to puke again into it. "Shit, Clem, are you alright?" she questioned me, kneeling at my side. I couldn't find the strength to answer her, but her question sat in my head. _Was I alright? I can't remember the last time I was this sick..._

Louis came back in the bathroom with a bucket in hand, but put it down once he laid eyes on me. He rushed in front of me and knelt down to my level, putting a hand on my forehead. "Clementine, you're burning up," he gasped, feeling my face and neck. "What's going on?"

I coughed and doubled over at the sudden pain in my stomach. "I don't know, Louis," I cried out, gasping in pain.

Not even a second later, AJ came running into the washroom. "Violet, Louis!" he exclaimed, standing in the doorway. "There's people coming towards the gate!"

"What?!" Louis and Vi exclaimed in unison, turning their heads over to AJ's direction.

"Shit, great fucking timing," Vi said, standing up. "Louis, come on. We can't let anyone attack us in this state. I'm half blind and Clem is sick."

He nodded. "AJ, watch over Clem."

"I will."

AJ came over to me while the other two hurried out the room and presumably to the front of the school. Were we being attacked? I couldn't do anything in my state. I was out one leg and I was too weak to do anything else. My stomach was killing me. AJ looked concerned. "Clem?" he inquired, looking at me. I could see the fear in his eyes. It almost reminded me of that look his eyes got when we were in the barn. I had been near death at that point, and I was worried he was thinking the same thing about me now.

"AJ, I'm fine."

My vision started to get blurry, making it hard to focus. "Just go outside and tell me what's going on, please?" I asked of him, leaning against the wall behind me. "I need to know what's happening."

"But Louis said-"

"I'll be fine," I interrupted, grabbing his small hand and squeezing it. "I'm just a little sick, that's all. I'll be okay."

AJ nodded, flashing me a smile before hurrying outside. Once he was gone, I leaned over the box and puked again. Something was very, very wrong. I dragged the bucket of water over to myself and began to wash my face off. As my face felt like it was being poked with pins and needles, I assumed the worst. I wasn't sure if I'd be okay.

* * *

**AJ**

When Clem says she needs me to do something, I have to do it for her. I know I don't always listen to what she tells me to do, but this one seemed important. I went outside and saw everyone around the gate. The sun was beating down from the sky and it was hot. Willy was at the top of the watch tower with a bow and arrow ready. I hurried over to the gate to hear what everyone was saying. Aasim was the one I heard speak first.

"We're sorry, but we can't accept any more people here."

Looking past the others, I saw the people at the gate. It was four people. One was an older boy with a tattoo on his neck, who almost looked like an adult. The two younger boys looked like Clem's age. One of them was wearing a beanie and a jean jacket, while the other had on a navy blue long-sleeve and had blond hair. The last one was a girl, and she looked like Clem's age too. She had brown hair tied back and she looked... nice. She looked worried and maybe scared, but usually people who look scared and nervous are nice people. At least, most of the time. I know I have a lot to learn about people, but I'm trying to figure it out as I go.

Blue shirt stepped forward a couple of steps and said, "My name is Tyler. I promise we're not looking for any trouble. We just need some help."

The girl spoke up too. "Please, we got separated from our group. Just a week or so would really help us out," she begged everyone.

"What is it that you need?" Violet asked cautiously, squinting her eye. I could tell she was bothered by the fact that she had trouble seeing clearly.

The girl spoke again. "Maybe some food, a place to sleep too?"

Violet looked over to Louis, who gave her a worried look. It was a look that meant _"_we_ can't do that"_, I could tell. But he said something different.

"We could give you some food, but we can't let anyone stay the night."

As the brown haired girl had a disappointed expression on her face, Louis looked back at me and seemed confused. "AJ? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching-"

"I know," I said back. "But she said to check on everyone."

"Is she okay? How does she look?"

I shook my head. "Not good."

The girl with her hair tied back looked over at us. "Is one of your people hurt?" she asked, and looked worried.

Violet eyed this girl, and I could tell she was suspicious of her. "Why do you ask?"

"We have a medic," the girl replied. She looked over at the guy with the tattoo on his neck. "Laine, maybe if you help their friend, they can lend us a place to stay?"

The man, Laine, looked at the girl and then at us. "I have medicine with me. Painkillers, antibiotics, bandages. If you let us stay until our group comes back around, we'll help with your friend." he said, and looked over to the other boy. "Gabriel here's got the supplies in his backpack. He can help out, too."

Gabriel nodded, and he looked nervous. Why did they look so nervous? Was there something out there they were running from?

Aasim went over to Louis and whispered, "What are you thinking? Should we let them in?"

Louis seemed stumped, not knowing what to do. Vi was better at these things so she was the one who made the call. "Clem is really sick. We need them to help if they have medicine," she said in a soft voice. Louis nodded his head.

Violet turned to the group outside of the gates. "You all can stay here if you help our friend out. She may have a fever or food poisoning or something," she told them, opening up the gates. Everyone backed up so that the gates could open. Violet looked at the girl again. "What's your name?" she asked.

The brown haired girl smiled. She was very pretty. Her skin was tan and gold, and her eyes were so dark they almost looked black. "I'm Maya," she smiled, and walked towards the gates. "And of course we'll help. Thank you so much."

Tyler, Laine, Gabriel, and Maya came through the gates, and we all watched them closely. I wasn't sure how I felt about the older boy, Laine. All the older people I knew were bad, and most of the kids I met were good, with the exception of maybe Minerva. I hope he's not one of the bad adults, even though I know he's going to help Clem. You can never be too sure. I hope we did the right thing, letting them in our home. I really like this home and I don't want anything bad to happen to us anymore.

* * *

**Clementine**

Louis had taken me to my room after helping me wash my face and take my jacket off, and he was currently trying to convince me to let strangers give me medicine. I admit, I did need the medicine. My vision was going in and out, and I had vomited a total of five times in the past half hour. Something wasn't right, and I needed help. "Who is it?" I asked Louis. "Who wants to help me?"

"There's a medic who knows what to do, and another boy who knows how to handle medicine too," he responded, grabbing my shoulder. "He's waiting outside the door whenever you're ready, Clem."

I wasn't sure how to feel about letting a random guy administer medicine to me, but what other choice did I have? The way I was feeling now, I felt like I was on my deathbed. "Can you stay with me when he comes in?" I asked of him. I definitely didn't want to be alone with this medic while I was so vulnerable.

"Where else would I be?" he smiled, and kissed my forehead. He looked over at the dresser by the window of the room. "You remember what I said about your hat?"

I looked over at my old worn out hat, the one my dad let me borrow before this all started. It was dirty, and still stained with blood from when Lee gave it back to me. Though I didn't wear it anymore, it was still special to me in a way. "My hat?"

He nodded. "Don't die," he insisted. "I still need you alive."

He flashed me a wink before getting up. I laughed and shook my head. "Idiot," I teased, then felt a sharp pain in my stomach that caused me to gasp. _God, this was pure agony. My stomach pains and Louis's god-awful jokes._

Louis walked over to the door and peeked outside. "She's in here," he said to someone. Not long after, he came back inside followed by a man. He was older than us for sure, but couldn't be any older than 21 maybe. The first thing that stuck out to me was the tattoo on his neck. The name "Grace" was written vertically on the side of his neck, and some kind of rose was beside it. It was all in black. He had on a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he looked strong. His eyes weren't very welcoming. As he walked towards me, I grew hesitant about this whole thing. If I wasn't in so much pain I would've sent him away.

"Hey, I'm Laine," the man said, coming over to me and kneeling at the side of the bed. "Heard you have a fever and food poisoning?"

I looked up at Louis with cautious eyes. He answered for me, saying, "She had some berries for breakfast, but everyone else had some too. We're not sure what it is."

Laine squinted as he thought. "I see. But there are some poisonous berries growing out there, we passed by a couple bushes. Are you sure you didn't accidentally pick some?" he asked Louis.

"Ruby, Aasim, and I went out to pick berries this morning. I don't think any of us picked the wrong ones," he responded, "but it's a possibility, I guess."

"Considering your vomiting episode and stomach pain, our best bet is to treat you for berry poisoning," Laine said to me, and went into his bag to look for something. He pulled out a tablet and handed it to me. "For your fever," he informed.

"Thanks," I responded, taking the tablet from him. I swallowed it and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Laine went back into his bag and pulled out a syringe. My eyes went wide as I looked at it. I hated needles with a passion since they brought back bad memories. "Do I really need that?" I questioned him.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "To treat the poison? Yes."

He pulled at my hand and began feeling the length of my arm. Continuously, he poked and prodded at different parts of my arm, squeezing my wrist and then my bicep. His fingers went up to my shoulder, then back down to my wrist. I looked up again at Louis, showing him worried eyes. What the hell was this guy doing?

"Um..." Louis started, walking closer. "Need some help there?"

"I've never been good at finding the vein," Laine admitted, then stood up. "I'll have Gabriel do this part."

He suddenly walked out the door and shouted, "Gabriel, ven aquí!" he exclaimed, speaking Spanish I assumed.

"I speak English too, y'know," I heard a male voice say from outside the room. A very familiar male voice. "_You_ don't even know anything besides English."

"Listen, I need you to give this shot to the girl. I can't find veins for shit."

"Yeah, alright. I can do it."

My vision went blurry again as he walked in. I could see that he had on a beanie and a jean jacket, but I couldn't quite see his face. Something about him looked so familiar... I couldn't quite put my finger on it just yet. Once he got close to me, I took everything in and realized why I found his voice so familiar. He didn't have that baby fat anymore, and he looked older and stronger than he did before. His face was more mature and serious, but it was him, it had to be him. He must've recognized me too, because his eyes went wide as he looked me up and down. "C-Clem?" he asked, looking in disbelief. "Clementine?"

"Gabe?" I asked, looking up at his eyes. I hadn't seen him in years. If I was being honest, I thought I'd never see him again. Once we went our separate ways I thought that was the end of an era. Yet, here he was. Hands in his pockets, sunlight from the window reflecting off of his skin, his brown hair coming out from his beanie. It looked unreal the more I looked at him.

Louis eyed us from a couple feet away with a dumbfounded expression. "Wait, you two know each other?" he asked, then looked at me. "Clem, how do you know _every_ survivor we've come across?"

"We go back," I said to Louis. "Just a couple years back."

"Yeah..." Gabe trailed off, then knelt down by my side. He had almost a distant look on his face, but he still flashed me a small smile. "It's... good to see you."

I smiled back at him, studying his face even more. It looked like he had a scar spanning from the bottom of his right eye to his ear, and another on the corner of his mouth. Something serious had to have happened to get scars like those. A lot can happen in a couple years, I would know. Gabe pulled at my wrist and squeezed the crease in the middle of my arm. Carefully, he placed the needle on a light blue vein and pressed it into my skin, injecting whatever was in the syringe into my arm. "All done," he concluded, standing up again. "You'll probably need a glass of water. It'll stop you from vomiting again."

I looked over to Louis, who nodded and eyed Gabe before he left the room to fetch the water I needed. Even though I could tell he was wary of Gabe, I knew Gabe was a good guy. Once he was gone, I took a deep breath and looked back at him. "So," I began, twiddling with my thumbs while still resting back on the mattress of my bed. "You're not with Javi?"

He shrugged, looking down. "I think he's okay, but we went our separate ways about a year ago," he responded. He pulled up a chair from the desk and sat by my side. "No hard feelings, but I wanted to find something new."

Gabe willingly left Javi and Kate, his only family? That didn't sound like him. When I met him, he'd do anything to protect his family and the people he loved. I think he cared about me, too. Granted, our relationship never went further than just friends. He was cool in my book, and I had felt a certain way towards him, but I don't think it was a crush. I just didn't have anyone around my age to talk to since forever, and it felt good being able to talk with him while I teamed up with Javi. I think I would've felt the same connection with _anyone_ who was my age at that time. Without AJ by my side, I needed that connection to feel something besides hurt, even if it was someone like Gabe. He may have been a bit reckless at times, but at the very least he had good intentions. I felt like I understood what he meant about finding something new and leaving the past behind. Sometimes, it was also best to go your own way considering the circumstances. "No, I think I get it," I assured him. "I'm sure you had your reasons."

Looking down, he said, "I always hated being on the road before, but you get used to it after a while."

I laughed, thinking back to when AJ and I were on the road. "I don't miss the road. I probably wouldn't survive out there in my state," I admitted, thinking of my missing leg. Granted, I was lucky I didn't lose my knee as well, but walking today proved to be a struggle.

"Once the medicine kicks in, you'll be as good as new," he said, gesturing to the bag of medicine on the ground.

I raised an eyebrow at him and looked down at my legs. I still had my boots on, meaning he couldn't see the prosthetic leg on my left side. He had no idea I was missing a leg. It made me a little embarrassed if I was being honest. I vomited up my guts just 20 minutes ago, I was feeling weak, and now I didn't have half of my left leg. I was a complete mess. Not wanting a pity party, I decided not to tell him for the time being. I decided I'd let him know once I was feeling like myself again. "You know," he spoke up again, looking up at me, "You're really strong, Clem. You have to be to have made it this far."

Flattered by his compliment, I smiled to myself. I guess I still had that going for me. I made it this far. "You too, Gabe. Making it this far is more than luck. It's... strength, I think. Maybe skills too," I replied, sitting up. I was already starting to get some strength back in my body. The medicine was finally starting to kick in.

He smiled at me. "You always know what to say, Clem," he grinned, looking at me with bright eyes. "That hasn't changed."

I looked down at my hands and smiled. It was nice to feel validated for a change. It was nice to be told I was strong. Louis, Violet, and AJ told me all the time that I was strong and so did everyone else at the school, but I always assumed they were only saying that to be nice. I knew I'd been a burden on everyone ever since the incident. Everyone was working even harder now that I was injured, especially Louis. He'd never tell me, but I could tell he would get exhausted of having to take charge on food runs and other things around the school. He wasn't used to being a leader, but he had to step up because of me.

While lost in my thoughts, I looked back over to Gabe to find him still looking my way. He noticed this and shifted his gaze over to the door. "I should go check on my people," he said, standing up. "See you later, Clementine," he said with warmth in his voice.

"Later, Gabe," I responded. He walked out rather quickly and closed the door behind him. Sighing, I leaned against the bed again as I waited for Louis to bring me the water he went to go get. My eyelids felt heavy as I waited and waited. Maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt...

* * *

_*Later that night*_

I opened my eyes to a dark room with AJ sleeping next to me in my bed. Whenever he slept next to me like this, I knew that the day had been stressful for him. Smiling, I kissed my goofball's forehead and sat up. My body already felt much stronger than it did earlier. Damn berries, of course I was the only one who got food poisoning from them.

I wasn't sure for how long I had slept, but for some reason I felt like I had to go check on Louis. Trying not to wake AJ, I slid out of bed and stood up with my prosthetic leg. I still felt a bit unstable so I grabbed my crutches and took them with me as I hobbled out of my bedroom. The hallway was quiet as usual. I wondered where the new people were sleeping for the night. I also wondered if we could trust them. Sure, I think I trusted Gabe and the other boy I met gave me medicine too, but who knows if they would be trustworthy in the long run. It's hard to tell these days.

As I walked by the staircase, I could hear the soft sounds of a piano emitting from the music room. Definitely Louis.

I moved unsteadily until I reached the room, opening the door to find Louis playing the piano. The room was only lit by a couple candles. He didn't notice me walk in, it seemed. He was playing a reminiscent tune, one I'd heard before. It finally clicked and I realized he was playing my song, the one he wrote for me in the very beginning. My chest felt warm and fuzzy as I shuffled forward with my crutches and shut the door behind me.

Louis was startled but quickly looked up at me with a smile. I smiled back as I walked forward with my crutches supporting me. "I'm not dead," I joked, joining him over near his piano. "Not yet, anyway."

"That's good," he responded, grabbing onto my hand. "Do you feel any better?"

I nodded. "I feel great, actually," I replied, and took a seat next to him on the bench. "I just wanted to check on you."

He looked confused. Raising an eyebrow and slightly tilting his head, he asked, "Me? I wasn't the one deathly sick this morning."

"I know, I just..." I trailed off, looking down. Feeling a little bashful, I finished my words. "I know you've been working a lot more lately because of me and my leg, and I worry about it sometimes. About you."

The look in Louis's eyes was of amusement and surprise. "Clementine, I'm not working harder because of what happened to you. It's because it's what I should've been doing this whole time, even before I met you," he responded, caressing my arm. "I was always screwing around while everyone else did the real work, and that wasn't fair. I need to make up for it."

"Really? That's all there is to it?"

"That's it," he replied, pulling me close into a hug while letting out a huge sigh. "I was worried about you, Clem. I was scared something bad would happen to you today."

I was too. "But nothing bad happened," I replied, "thanks to the new group."

Louis pulled away from our hug and looked at me. "Yeah, thanks to Mr. Googly-eyes," Louis teased, smirking.

"You talking about Laine?"

"No, I'm talking about your ex, Gabe."

Oh God, _my_ _ex_?! "Whoa, hold up," I laughed, hands up in defense. "First off, he's _not _my ex. Second, he did _not _have "googly eyes" or any kind of eyes," I said in my defense.

"Oh, he totally had googly-eyes," Louis said and crossed his arms. "He's got a thing for you."

"He does not!" I said back, "No way does he have a crush on me."

Louis shook his head at me with a disapproving expression. "And I thought Violet was the only blind one here, Clem," he teased.

"Violet would kick your ass if she heard you saying that."

"But it's funny! Right?"

"Should I say yes so you don't get your feelings hurt?"

"Please?" he asked with puppy-dog eyes.

I rolled my eyes and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. Once I pulled away, he had a dazed look in his eyes. "That works, too," he smiled, pulling me in for another kiss.

There it was. That same warm feeling from the night before was settling back in my stomach. With the cozy music room decor and the lighting from the candles, the setting seemed perfect. "You don't think Ruby will interrupt us this time, do you?" I asked Louis in between our kissing.

"Everyone was out like a light an hour ago, and Aasim is on lookout tonight. No interruptions," he grinned, running a hand over my hair. "We doing this? For real this time?"

I giggled at his question. "Yeah, Lou. For real."

As we began kissing again, Louis pushed me back against the piano. My back pressed against the keys and we both jumped at the loud sound the piano made. Looking at each other, we both burst into laughter. "We're going to wake everyone up," I laughed, scooting away from the piano keys.

"I could live with that," Louis said in a suggestive voice, giving me a wink.

I shook my head at him with a smile. "You're so weird."

In a quick motion, he picked me up bridal style and started walking over to the part of the room where there were a couple rugs and old blankets sprawled out on the floor. As I laughed, I clung onto him scared that he was going to drop me. "I love you, Clementine," he said while walking, looking at me with his chocolate eyes. "And I'm not going to drop you, I promise." His eyes never failed to make my heart melt whenever I looked into them.

"I love you, too."

* * *

**Next chapter will be a fun one!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait! I spent a while on this chapter, but I hope everyone enjoys it! There'll be lots of teen drama coming up soon. I'll try to have the next chapter out sooner this time. Also, I appreciate the reviews and feedback from everyone!**

**Without further ado, here's chapter 3.**

**Inevitable 03 - Young, Wild, and Free**

* * *

The sound of birds chirping was the first thing to greet me as I woke up. Opening my eyes, a ray of sunshine blinded my vision until I shifted my body over so that I was laying on my side instead of my back. Sleeping on the floor wasn't really my thing, but the rugs and blankets helped make it more comfortable. Louis was sound asleep, his breaths slow and drawn out. He looked so peaceful with the quietness of the morning and the sunlight gracefully lighting up his features. I began to count the freckles on his face to see how many he really had. Could there be more than a hundred? No way that's possible, but there were too many for me to count them all. I reached a hand out and touched the side of his face, causing him to open his deep-brown eyes and look at me. His mouth curved into a smile.

"Morning," he murmured, then yawned. "Feels like I slept for a long time."

"It's still early, I can tell," I reassured him, looking outside of the window. The sky was a light color, and the birds meant that it was early morning. Everything seemed so calm.

Louis grabbed my hand and gently rubbed his thumb against it. I wasn't sure what to say, but I felt so happy. Nothing else could accurately describe what I was feeling besides simply being happy. And maybe a little bit sore, too.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, reaching out and lightly tugging at some of my curls.

I tried to burrow myself in some of the soft and warm blankets that we were laying on. "Tired," I mumbled while closing my eyes and smiling. I could lay here with him all day if I could. I opened my eyes and looked up at him again.

He chuckled and examined me with sparkling eyes. "We could stay here a little longer," he said, turning onto his back and looking up at the ceiling. He rested his hands over his stomach and let out a breath. "I think we deserve a calm morning."

I smirked, shuffling towards him and laying my head on his chest. "That _does _sound nice."

Last night was... there wasn't a good enough word to describe it the right way. It was so new and different. I didn't know what I was expecting, but I think the reality was good. Maybe even great? I wasn't sure how it was supposed to be, but judging by the warm and comfy feeling in my chest right now, I think it was safe to say that everything was just right. Laying here with Louis, listening to the birds sing and feeling his heart beat against my cheek made me feel so happy. There weren't many times I felt safe in this apocalyptic world, but right now that's exactly what I felt. Safe and sound.

"Clem, can I ask you something?"

I looked up at him, his dreads, and his olive-green shirt complimenting his brown skin. "What is it?"

He smiled before answering. "I was wondering... What were you like as a kid? You know, before all this started? I told you my story, but I never heard much of yours."

"Oh," I started, caught off guard by his question. That was such a long time ago. It was almost a decade at this point! Sometimes I forget that life was ever normal at one point. "Well, I liked animals a lot."

"What kind of animals?"

"I had a hamster once, and a pet goldfish, too."

"Ooh, the classic pet goldfish. Let me guess, you named it Goldie or Dorothy?"

I scoffed at his response. "Yeah, right. I named him Peanut."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Dude, really? Peanut?"

"What's wrong with Peanut? He was as small as a peanut."

Louis just shook his head and grinned. "What about school? I'm guessing you weren't a "troubled" child, right?"

"School..." I said in a low voice, thinking back to that time. "It was easy. My favorite thing about school was field trips. We actually got to learn new things and went to places like botanical gardens."

"Damn, you sound perfect compared to me."

"Hey, just because I didn't get sent off to boarding school doesn't mean I was perfect."

"Ouch," he said, playfully putting a hand over his heart. "I gotta admit, that stings coming from you."

"Why is that?" I giggled, slightly propping myself up to get a better look at him. He had that same playful look in his eyes. It was that one he always got whenever he was talking to someone and trying to make them happy, too.

He put a hand on the side of my face before saying, "Because I care about what you think of me."

Smiling, I rested my head on his chest again and sighed. "Well, you don't have to worry about that."

Louis let out a small laugh and started to stroke my hair as I gazed across the room. It really was such a beautiful morning. Though we had a lot of things to worry about, it was a brand new day. If we made it this far with all the struggles we've faced, we could most definitely do it again.

Only a few minutes had passed before a thought had crossed my mind. "I should probably check on AJ," I announced, sitting up and adjusting my shirt and hair as best as I could. "He seemed pretty stressed yesterday. I want to make sure he's alright," I explained to Louis. If AJ was already awake, he was probably wondering where I was at. He's always making sure that I was okay and putting my well-being over his.

"No worries," Louis smiled, sitting up as well. "I need to get everyone together to get some more food. We have four extra people to feed now," he said, then stood up. I examined him as he adjusted his clothing and looked towards the window in the room. He had changed a lot since I first met him. Of course, he was still a dork who joked around too much for his own good and loved nothing more than his beloved piano. But now, he took charge around the school. He was the one to coordinate hunting and foraging, and he even kept lookout a majority of the time. Violet and I helped him immensely, even Aasim at times, but Louis was the star of the show here. He had to be. I would've never expected that when I first met him. I definitely didn't mind, though. Seeing him like this was attractive as hell.

Louis extended a hand out and helped me get on my feet. "I'm thinking of sending you and Vi out to go fishing with the new girl. You alright with that?" he asked, looking down at my left leg. "And do you need your crutches?" he questioned me. I tried to take a few steps backwards with my new leg, and then forward again. It felt weird, but I could make this work. Still, I needed to have my crutches just in case.

"That's fine, but I should probably take my crutches with me. Still getting used to this thing," I said, making a small kicking movement with my left leg.

"Understandable. I know it's also going to be your first time out since..." he trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

It was going to be my first time outside of these gates without my leg. I definitely couldn't run, but I was a lot better at walking with crutches for at least a good hour before getting tired. Going fishing wouldn't take that long. Plus, I trusted that Violet would help me out if there was any trouble. "I'll be okay," I assured him. "As long as the other girl is trustworthy, too."

Louis nodded. "Her name is Maya, and she seems nice. I'll let her know once Violet is up."

"Sounds good," I responded, standing up on my toes to give him quick peck on the lips and a smile. "I'll check in with you later, Lou."

"See ya, Clem."

* * *

Violet crossed her arms as we waited by the gate with an annoyed expression on her face. The sun was beating down hard on us today, like it had been for the past week. "Come on, Vi, lighten up," I pleaded with her, tugging at the top of my shirt to cool my chest off. No one was wearing any jackets or vests today since the air was filled with heat. It wasn't helping anyone's moods either.

"I just don't trust them. Not yet," Violet said in a low voice, looking towards the school building. "I get Louis wants them to help with getting food, but I don't think sending you and me together is the best idea. You know, fucked up eye and fucked up leg?"

"Thanks," I sarcastically replied. She was just worried, I could tell. "We're all worried about the new people, but I'm sure it'll be okay."

"Come on, Clem," she said while shaking her head. "Don't you find it just a little strange that four people showed up, and they all happen to be around our age?"

I had to admit, it was a weird coincidence that three of them were teens like us. Laine looked only a couple years older than the rest of us, but he was still young I think.

She sighed, saying, "Look, the only reason I agreed to have them here is so that they could help you. We thought you were going to die. Now that you're fine, I'm just uneasy about this whole thing."

"Don't worry, we'll be okay. Louis says the girl is nice," I reminded her. Just then, we saw her walking out of the building with Louis. From a distance, I could see Louis pointing in our direction and waving. I waved back at him and watched as the girl came towards us. I turned over to Violet. "Just try to be nice, okay?"

With no response from Violet, the new girl came up to us with a big smile on her face. She was a pretty girl, no doubt about it. Her hair was long and dark brown, tied back in a ponytail, and her skin was a caramel color. She had on dark jeans and a faded, light blue tank top with short sleeves. What stood out most about her face were her dark eyes and the dimple on one cheek. "I'm Maya. Louis told me I'm going fishing with you guys?" she inquired, thumbs in her front pockets.

"Spear fishing," Violet said, and turned to open the gates. "Come on, we don't want to be out here all day."

As Violet walked outside of the gates, I turned to Maya. "I'm Clementine. And don't worry, she grows on you," I said, repeating what Louis told me when I first met Vi.

Maya shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I get it, no one's happy to be out in this heat. But I owe this to your group," she said, and started walking with me out the gate.

We walked in silence for a little while as we made our way to the river. When the shed was finally in sight, Violet walked faster to go and fetch the spears for us. Maya seemed to be interested in our surroundings. I wondered where their group came from and how they ended up in this area. It was almost like she had never been in the woods before.

Soon, the sound of rushing water filled my ears as we neared the river. Violet was already in the shed getting the spears and buckets out. "This is a nice little place," Maya said, stepping close to the water. "You guys ever hang out here?"

"Hang out?" I asked, leaning against a boulder while setting my crutches beside me.

"Yeah, hang out. Like dipping your feet in the water and talking about life and all that crap," she said, looking down the stream of water leading on for miles.

"I don't think it'd be safe to do that. We have to be on guard out here," I replied, scanning the area. It seemed to be walker-free. The last thing I needed was to run into another walker...

Maya looked at me and down at my legs, then my crutches. "You sprain your ankle or something?" she questioned.

I laughed softly to myself. "More like I _lost_ my ankle."

She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "But, something's still there, right? You're standing just fine."

"It's a prosthetic leg," I answered, sticking my left leg out a little and twirling it side to side. "You can't tell with my jeans and boot over it, but it's all metal and plastic under this."

Her expression turned from confused to horrified. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I had no idea," she apologized, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she examined my leg further. "How did that happen?"

"Ax to the leg. Walker bite. Then an ax to the leg again," I replied, thinking back to that day. Sometimes I tried not to think about that day. It was such an emotional roller-coaster for everyone involved, especially me and AJ.

As Maya expressed a look of sympathy towards me, Violet came up behind us. She handed Maya two spears. "Here, I'm going downstream to fish. You two can stay here," Vi said quickly, setting the bucket down too.

"Got it," Maya smiled, taking the spears from Violet and handing me one of them as well. As Violet walked away, Maya sighed and looked directly at me. "So... how are we doing this?"

I took a couple of slow, careful steps further to the river. "It's easy, we just have to stab some fish and put them in the bucket here," I replied, keeping a lookout for fish. Once one was in sight, I rammed the spear right into it and pulled the fish out of the water and off the spear. "Like this," I said, throwing the fish in the bucket.

She grinned as she got into her spear-fishing stance. "Looks simple enough," she said, and almost immediately speared a huge fish as water splashed up from her action. _Damn, that was a good one._

"Impressive," I said in awe, watching as she dropped the fish into the bucket. _At this rate, we'll be eating well tonight._

"Thanks, girl," she replied while keeping her chin up with pride. "This is my first time fishing with spears. My uncle used to take me fishing every weekend once I turned seven years old. Fishing with a rod takes a lot longer."

"Were you close to your uncle?"

She shrugged. "You could say I hated him."

"Oh..." I trailed off. I decided that I probably shouldn't push the subject any longer. There was probably some personal backstory there that she wasn't ready to tell yet. Everyone had one, I know I did, but sometimes it's better to let them tell you on their own rather than to poke around in their business. We continued looking for more fish, catching about two more in the span of ten minutes. There were a lot of fish out today! Usually, it was a miracle to find just one or two every couple of days. I guess we got lucky this time around...

"So, where are you from, Clementine?" Maya asked, eyes still glued to the water looking for more fish. "Like, originally?"

There was no harm in telling her that, I suppose. "Georgia," I answered, thinking back to my old house with the nice backyard and my tree-house. "What about you?"

"California. I'm really far from home, now," she smiled, looking lost in thought. "My people drove out here when it all started. They heard it was safer on the other coast."

I raised an eyebrow at her. I had never been anywhere besides the southeastern states, so I wondered how that must have been for her. "Was it safer?"

"Maybe," she said, piercing her spear through the water and missing. "I'm still alive and kicking, so it must be," she concluded, brushing stray hairs away from her face. "How'd you end up at this school?"

_She sure was curious about me... _"You ask a lot of questions," I joked, trying to stab a fish but missing as well.

Maya laughed and said, "Sorry, I'm just trying to get to know everyone is all. I didn't mean to pry."

I nodded and wiped away some water that had splashed on my face earlier. "Let's just say that the school found me. And I'm lucky they did," I responded. She nodded and looked over to me.

"And the guy I talked to, Louis? He's your boyfriend, right?" Maya asked me with a grin.

Blushing, I said, "Yeah, he is. He told you?"

"He didn't tell me. It was the way he talked about you. He's head-over-heels in love with you, by the way," she giggled, putting a hand on her hip. "Plus, he's cute _and _plays the piano? You got a good one."

I felt my face get hot and flushed as I listened to her talk about me and Louis. "Um, thanks, I guess," I smiled while scratching the back of my neck. I'm not sure why I felt anxious talking about my relationship with someone else. Maybe it was because I didn't really have anyone to talk to about these things? I definitely couldn't talk to any of the guys at the school, Ruby was too serious sometimes, and Vi... well, I just wasn't sure if I could really talk to her about it either. Maybe Maya was someone I could confide in. At least, while her group was staying here. She seemed nice and sweet, and she was also very social. Talking with her felt easy, like she was an old friend.

I spoke up again. "I think we've caught enough fish. We can call it a day," I announced, leaning my spear on the boulder as I picked up my crutches again. "I'll tell Violet that we're finished here."

Maya placed her spear next to mine and flashed me a smile. "Sounds good, I- OH MY GOD! HOLY SHIT!" she suddenly screamed, jumping up and scrambling to hop on top of the boulder.

My heart raced as I backed up with my crutches, looking around to see what she was screaming about. "W-what? What is it?" I asked with concern.

She pointed with wide eyes at the ground. "THAT!" she yelled, and I looked to see what she was talking about. There was a gigantic spider on the ground, probably the size of a baseball or something. It looked fuzzy and black with long legs and a fat body.

"Gross," I commented, stepping back. I wasn't the biggest fan of spiders, but it wasn't scary enough for me to scream about. "Let's just get going. It's not even moving."

Dramatically, she shook her head while breathing hard. "I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH THAT _THING _ON THE GROUND. IT'S GONNA BITE ME, OR-"

Just then, Violet came stomping over with a fishing spear in her hand. In a swift movement, she stabbed the huge spider then proceeded to kick it into the river. The black, fuzzy creature was carried away by the running water and was soon out of sight. Maya looked up at Violet with a look of astonishment on her face, Violet returning it with a look of annoyance. "Last thing we need is a swarm of walkers killing us over a fucking spider," she snapped, grabbing the spears. "I'll put these away. Grab the buckets and let's go."

She stormed off to the shed, leaving Maya looking at her from on top of the rock she jumped onto. _I hope she didn't scare Maya off. _"Sorry about that," I apologized, looking over at the shaken girl in front of me. "We're just all on edge since my leg got cut off. Violet can be-"

"Hot," Maya responded, jumping down from the rock. _Um, okay then..._

"That's... one way to put it," I replied as she grabbed our bucket.

"Did you see the way she killed that thing? And then kicked it into the river like nothing?" she asked, biting her lip. "That was fucking hot."

Violet came out of the shed and started walking back to the school. Once Maya noticed, she started walking, too. I shook my head to myself and followed along. Just when I thought I had this new girl figured out, she shocks me with this. She was most certainly a wild one. I wondered what else I would find out about this group...

* * *

Lately, my favorite times of day have been sunrise and sunset. There was something about that time where the sun was either appearing or disappearing from our world that made it seem magical, in a sense. The sky changed from blue to a mix of different colors, and the clouds were always illuminated by the couple of rays being emitted by the sun. The birds were either waking up or going to sleep, same goes for the rest of the animals. It always felt like a fresh start, or a happy ending. We made it to the end of the day, and we survived everything. It was always a good feeling when sunset or sunrise came around.

As I sat on the lookout tower with AJ, I turned my neck and looked around at our courtyard. Everything seemed to be going smoothly now that it was almost dinnertime. Omar was finishing up his stew, Violet and Louis were gathering the bowls and utensils, and everyone else was inside. The sky was orange and purple as the sun began to move closer to the horizon. The heat was still lingering in the air, but now there was a light and cool breeze coming in. AJ was sitting right by my side, cuddled up next to me. I turned back around and put my arm around him with a smile. "You excited for dinner, goofball?" I asked. "We caught a lot of fish today. I know that's your favorite."

He shrugged and looked out at the trees. _Why does he look so distant right now? Was he upset about something? _AJ usually got like this when something was bothering him. "What's the matter?" I questioned him, leaning forward and trying to get his attention.

AJ sighed and looked up at me. "I was worried about you, Clem. You went outside of the gates with the new people, and you still need crutches to walk," he pointed out. "Why would you do that? That's not safe."

He was right. It wasn't safe at all. If walkers had gotten the jump on us, I'd be depending on Violet or Maya to help me out. I was basically a liability in this state if I was being blunt about it. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I know I should've been more careful, but everything turned out okay. Maya is a nice girl, we can trust her," I told him, patting his back.

"I guess she did seem nice," he said to me.

"What do you think of the others?" I asked him, trying to get him off the subject of my safety. "Did you get to talk to any of them?"

He nodded. "Gabriel is okay. He was nice to me. Tyler was talking a lot to Louis. I think they might be friends now," he told me, making me giggle. Louis made a new friend? That was good to hear.

"And what about the other guy? Laine?"

"Him? He doesn't talk much. I heard him say that he was twenty-one," AJ said. "That's old, right?"

"That's not much older than us," I laughed, "but he's a lot older than you, that's for sure."

He grinned and rested his head on my shoulder. "That's because you're old, too."

_Of course he'd think that. _I had a feeling AJ thought everyone here at this school was old. Well, everyone besides Willy, maybe. He couldn't help it, he was still so little. I gave him a quick hug before I heard Louis speak up.

"Clem, AJ! Food's ready!" he shouted, waving to us as I smiled back at him.

I patted AJ on the head, making him frown. He always hated when I did that, but sometimes I liked to bug him just a little bit. "Come on, goofball, you must be hungry."

As we made our way to the ground, we saw everyone come out of the school doors. We had such a big group now with four extra people. It looked so unusual to see our place with so many faces again. AJ scurried over to the table where Willy was sitting at, along with Ruby, Aasim, and Omar. From the other group, Laine went over to sit next to Aasim. It made sense, seeing that Aasim was the most mature and reserved out of everyone here. Their personalities probably meshed well with each other, or so I would think.

Louis and Violet caught up to me as I was lugging myself with my crutches over to the empty table. "Hey, Clem," Louis said, kissing me on the cheek. "Good to see you again."

I flashed him a smile. "Hey, Lou."

Violet lightly nudged my arm with her elbow. "Here's the deal, Clem. We're gonna try and get to know this new group. We want to see how friendly they really are."

"And see if they're any fun," Louis added in. Violet looked over at him with an eye-roll. "What? Everyone needs to have a break from all the hunting and walker-killing all the time. Fun isn't a bad thing."

"Fun is all you ever think about."

I could tell everyone was still moody from the hot day we had. "Alright, alright," I said calmly. "I agree with Violet, we should get to know them."

We all walked to the table, Violet sitting to the left of me and Louis to the right. He helped me get adjusted in my seat as the new people walked over to us. There was Maya, Tyler, and Gabe. Maya had her backpack on her. I wasn't exactly sure why she did, but I didn't question it. I looked over at Gabe and gave him a small smile to greet him. He smiled back at me and sat down in the middle of his group. The only one I hadn't seen until now was Tyler. He had on a blue long-sleeve and he had blond hair and deep green eyes that seemed to be friendly. "What's up, Lou?" Tyler greeted, pulling his bowl towards him. "The food looks great!"

"Hey, Ty," Louis grinned. _Nicknames already? _"Just make sure to thank Chef Omar next time you see him."

"_And_ the girls for catching a shit-ton of fish today," Maya added in, looking at me first and then winking when she shifted her gaze to Violet. I tried to hold back a laugh as she started eating a spoonful of the stew. "Mm, I haven't had food this good in a while."

Violet, oblivious to Maya's attention, started eating too. She paused only to speak up. "What does your group usually eat?"

"Possum," Gabe recalled, looking down at his food.

Maya nodded in agreement. "Bland, under-cooked possum..."

That sounded gross, but I've eaten that before, too, when I was with Christa.I figured I should change the subject to something a little more positive. "So, Tyler? I hear you and Louis got a chance to meet each other?"

"Hell yeah, we're basically friends now. He plays a mean piano, too," he beamed, flashing Louis a grin. "Lou, I never asked who your favorite composer is."

"Dude, Chopin all the way. What about you?"

"Ah, Chopin is a good choice. For me, it's Beethoven. Moonlight Sonata, Für Elise, you name it," Tyler answered. He's even into classical music? Louis must be loving this guy's company! I could tell by the goofy grin on his face that he was happy to be talking music with someone else.

I glanced directly across the at Gabe to see what he was doing, as he wasn't speaking up too much. To my surprise, we immediately made eye-contact. As Louis and Tyler continued talking about composers and piano to each other, I opted to check in with Gabe. "How are you liking your stay at Ericson's? Are you getting adjusted to everything?" I asked him.

The corners of his mouth tugged upwards as he put his folded arms on the table. "It's great here. You have beds, food, and secure walls around the place. I'm glad you're safe here," he responded with warmth in his voice.

"That's all I can ask for nowadays. Safety," I said, then remembered something even more important. "And family. We're all really close here."

As we ate the rest of our food, I looked back at the other table to see what everyone else was up to. It looked like they had all finished eating. Omar, Aasim, and Ruby seemed to have already gone back indoors. Willy and AJ were on the front porch of the school cleaning up some sort of project they started a couple days ago, and Laine was sitting on the lookout tower by himself. Louis probably assigned him for lookout duty for a couple hours. It looked like he was smoking some kind of cigar, but it was hard to tell from how far we were.

"Clem, Vi," Louis called out. He held up his deck of playing cards, pointing to it. "Up for a game?"

"Ooh, I love games. Can I pick the game?" Maya beamed, leaning forward on the table.

Louis laughed at her enthusiasm. "Hell yeah, you can pick the game. What'll it be?"

Maya thought for a couple seconds before snapping her finger. "I got it. Let's play something a little fun," she said in a suggestive tone. "Never have I ever."

"This again?" Gabe asked in a worrisome tone.

Tyler put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Is there anything you _haven't _done, Maya?"

"Shush, quit being a kill-joy," she playful said, then started digging around in her backpack.

"Huh, sounds like fun. We haven't played that one before," Violet chimed in, interested in the game too.

Louis furrowed his eyebrows. "How exactly do we play that one?"

"We go around the table, and one person will say something they've never done before. If anyone at the table has done said thing..." she trailed off, pulling something out of her backpack. She placed a glass bottle in the middle of the table. "They have to take a drink."

I eyed the bottle to see what it said. From what I could make out, it had the words "hard cider" written across it in black marker. Alcohol? This game seemed a bit more extreme than the other games we'd played in the past. I looked over to Violet and saw her raised eyebrows and her fingers gripping the table. She certainly wasn't sure what to think about this. Louis had a similar look on his face as well.

"Oh, come on! It's cider, the stuff isn't that strong. I've been lugging this bottle around for an opportunity like this," Maya whined, then pointed to a couple of jars that were sitting on the other table. "Tyler, we can use those jars as cups for everyone. You'll only have to take a sip."

Tyler sighed as he got up to get the jars while Louis worriedly looked around at the table. "Um, do you think it's a good idea for everyone to be drinking right now?" he asked Maya.

She laughed in response. "Like I said, the stuff isn't that strong, it's basically juice. I have stronger stuff, but that can wait until another time," she said, waving him off. Gabe rolled his eyes at her words. "Plus, Laine is on lookout. We'll be fine. Let loose a little."

Violet smirked and folded her arms on the table. "Alright, I'm down."

It was a little surprising hearing that from Violet, but also understandable. She wasn't one to back away from a challenge. I figured this game could be fun, and the whole point of this game was to get to know everyone else. I remember, a long time ago, Jane telling me once about how she drank so much that she accidentally ate broken glass. I'd just make sure it didn't get to that point. How hard could it be? "Me, too," I followed up, then put a hand on Louis's shoulder. I could see Gabe looking at us from the corner of my eye, but I shifted my attention back to Louis again. "What about you, Louis?"

He looked at me with wide eyes. "Really?" he questioned me as I grinned at him. He shook his head and turned back to Maya. "Fine, I'm in."

Maya clenched her fist with accomplishment. "Awesome."

Tyler placed the jars in front of everyone while Maya poured them about a quarter way full each. "Who wants to go first?" Maya asked, putting the bottle back down on the table.

I gestured to her. "You go first, then we'll go clockwise from there."

She gave me a quick nod then started to think. "Hmm, never have I ever..." she began to say while stroking her chin.

"Having trouble there, Maya?" Gabe teased with a smirk on his face.

Maya glared at him, then her face turned smug. "Never have I ever been single my whole life."

Scowl on his face, Gabe pulled his jar closer to him. "Screw you," he said before taking a sip. Everyone couldn't help but laugh a bit, seeing that Gabe was the only one who had to take the drink. I was starting to see the appeal of this game. We could definitely get to know everyone but also have some fun with it, too. It was Gabe's turn next, and he turned to face Maya. He was definitely plotting some kind of revenge for calling him out.

"Do your worst, Gabriel," she said nonchalantly, winking at him.

"I will," he sneered back at her. "Never have I ever kissed someone I only knew for less than a month."

Maya laughed. "Specific, but more PG than I anticipated. Alright then," she said before taking a drink.

"Guilty," Vi said before taking a sip from her jar, too.

Tyler picked up his drink. "Not my proudest moment."

When I kissed Louis, it had barely been about three weeks of knowing him. I looked over to him with a guilty smile. He chuckled and raised his jar towards me. "Cheers?" he asked.

I clinked my drink against his. "Cheers."

Taking a sip, I noticed that it tasted almost exactly like apple juice but with a faint flavor of alcohol. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought back to years ago when Kenny adamantly protested against me having a drink when Bonnie had brought out the rum for everyone. I wondered what he would think now. _Kenny, if you're out there somewhere, please forgive me. Thanks._

"Damn," Maya giggled. "You tried calling me out, but just ended up making everyone take a drink. Guess you're the odd one out, Gabriel."

Gabe just rolled his eyes and accepted defeat. Tyler grinned as he remembered it was his turn. "Alright guys, get ready for a fun one," he smiled, cracking his knuckles. "Never have I ever had a crush on anyone at this table."

"Damn, not even me?" Louis joked.

Tyler laughed. "Tempting, but no. Sorry, Lou."

All at once, everyone except Tyler grabbed their drink and took a sip from it. I glanced over at Gabe, but he hadn't looked my way nearly the whole game. Maya was looking directly at Violet, who was still oblivious to her attention. Tyler looked around the table with raised eyebrows. "Oh, wow. That's not what I was expecting," he said in a hushed voice.

"Someone needs to start asking some better questions before we all get drunk," Maya joked, putting her drink back down. "Come on, Louis. Give us a question only a few of us might have done."

He nodded with a smile. "Got it. Never have I ever killed a dog."

"Ooh, something even I haven't done," Maya said.

_Great, of course I'd end up being guilty of the violent one. _Slowly, I pulled my jar towards me while everyone looked in my direction.

"Clem, I know you mentioned you had a fear of dogs in the past, but shit... I didn't think you killed them," Violet recalled in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Louis asked. "You killed a dog? Man's best friend?!"

"You've got a brutal girlfriend, Louis," Tyler said to him. Gabe shifted his gaze to Louis and then to me, a questioning expression on his face.

Everyone was ganging up on me! "It was one time, and it attacked me first," I said, extending my arm out and partially rolling up my shirt sleeve. They all looked at the scar I had on my forearm from stitching up my dog bite. "I went through hell because of that dog."

Louis looked at my scar with sympathy. "I think the council of dogs would forgive you this one time," he reassured me. I smiled as I took a sip of my drink.

Now it was my turn to think of something. Violet was after me, and knowing her, she was probably going to ask something incredibly awkward or revealing. I decided I'd tone mine down a little. "Never have I ever had a sibling."

As soon as I said it, I immediately regretted it once I thought back to my time spent with Javier and Gabe. Mariana had gotten killed right in front of us with a bullet going straight through her head. "Oh shit," I said, looking up at Gabe while my heart started beating faster out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking."

He surprisingly didn't look sad or awkward about it at all. He only chuckled and took a quick sip from his jar. "It's fine, Clem. It was a long time ago," he reminded me. "I only think about the good memories now."

My heart beat slowed back down as I felt relieved by his response. I smiled and nodded at him, appreciative for his positive reaction.

"Alright, Violet," Maya said while leaning forward on the table. "Show no mercy with this one. I still have more cider in my cup that needs drinking. Try to think of something totally embarrassing for someone to admit in front of everyone."

"Oh, you could say I'm pretty good at that," Violet joked.

"She is," Louis confirmed. I nodded my head in agreement, thinking back to her "marry, flip, kill" question a while ago.

Violet had a mischievous grin on her face. "Never have I ever..." she trailed on, then looked around at the table. "...Slept with a guy."

_Oh crap. _I looked down and tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone. _Should I be truthful about this one? It would be completely embarrassing to admit this to the group!_

"That's what I'm talking about!" Maya said, picking up her jar. She drank whatever was left in her glass. "But that was very specific. Why not say girls, too?"

"Because I make the rules for this round," Vi laughed.

"Maya likes anything that's living and breathing," Tyler commented. "She would've had a drink either way."

"He's not wrong," she shrugged, then looked up at everyone. "Wait, seriously? No one else but me has slept with a guy?"

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Please don't look my way. _Unfortunately, she looked my way and saw right through me. I must've been blushing or something. Maya laughed and slapped a hand on the table. "Oh man, I know that face anywhere," she called out to me. "No cheating, you gotta drink if it applies to you."

Louis scratched the back of his neck while Violet broke out into laughter. "Holy shit," she cracked up, then looked back at me. "I thought you told me nothing happened?!"

"Nothing did happen... that time," I replied as I took a final sip of my drink. I ended up drinking the rest of the cider. Tyler laughed, while Gabe was looking down at the table.

"Oh my _god_," Maya beamed. "Did this _thing_ just happen? I need deets! When, where, how?"

"Alright, alright, I think I'm done for the night," I laughed, turning to Louis. "Mind helping me to my room?"

"No problem, babe," Louis smiled as he got out of his seat.

Violet piped up from her seat. "Don't have too much fun!"

"Shut up," I replied, shaking my head.

"Ah, wouldn't count on that, Vi," Maya chimed in. "Clem finished that whole drink and she's perfectly fine. She's a heavyweight for sure."

I let out a sigh and grabbed my crutches from Louis, who had handed them to me. As we began walking away, the group continued chatting with each other. It was completely dark out now. We must've been playing that game for a while. Louis broke the silence as we neared the entrance of the building. "That was..." he trailed off.

"Awkward? Yeah," I finished for him. We both laughed as we entered the school. This was going to be an interesting week.

* * *

**Oop. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long. I thought with summer coming around I'd have more time to write, but it turned out that summer was actually WAY busier than when I'm in school. No worries though, I'm once again working on this story for anyone still reading. Without further ado, here's chapter 4!**

**Inevitable 04 - Revelation**

* * *

***7 days later***

* * *

"That's a lot of walkers."

"Yeah, it is."

"What should we do?" Gabe asked, a crowbar in hand. We had gone out to fetch some supplies from the shed by the river, but before we could get there, we were met with a swarm of walkers heading towards us. There had to be at least ten of them. Usually, this would be an easy job for me. I felt confident enough not to use my crutches today, but I still couldn't run just yet. "We could turn around and head back," he suggested to me.

"I won't be fast enough. We'll have to take them out ourselves."

I grabbed my knife from my pocket and braced myself. This was going to be my first time killing some walkers in a while. I had to do it perfectly, or else this wouldn't end well. Gabe and I slowly moved towards the group of walkers. I still had a slight limp considering I had only just gotten this new leg and was adjusting to it. _You can do this. It's just a couple of walkers, less than a dozen._

Gabe swung at the first walker that got close to us, blood splattering as his crowbar hit its skull. He swung at another one before the first's body could make it to the floor. To my surprise, he was really good at this. Feeling a little better about the situation at hand, I made my way towards a walker that was lurching towards me, its arms outstretched while it growled. I looked at its jagged teeth as it grew close and felt my heart beat a little faster. I was confused as to why my heart started to race, but pushed that aside as I sunk my knife into the side of the walker's head. It fell to the ground with a thud after I pulled the knife back out and looked around for the next monster I'd have to kill.

Not far off, another walker limped towards me. I took a few steps forward and jammed my knife between its eyes. I yanked it out and looked around for Gabe. He had killed a majority of the walkers already, only a few of them still staggering around. We just had to get these last ones and then we'd be in the clear.

I felt something tugging at my left pant leg, along with a growling sound. Quickly, I looked down and yelped out in surprise. There was a walker on the ground, gnawing on my left leg. Well, my prosthetic leg to be more specific. _What if that had been my right leg? My real leg? _My mind thought back to that cliff with AJ, where the walker got a hold of me and bit my leg. I remembered kicking it off of me and rushing for AJ's help, the horror when I removed my boot and saw teeth marks on my skin.

My heart raced as I stared at the walker on the ground. _Do something! Why can't I move?! _The walker tugged at my leg and caused me to lose my balance. I fell to the ground and cried out in pain before turning my attention back to the walker. As I began to kick the walker away with my right foot, I heard a voice call out to me.

"Clem!" Gabe yelled, running over to where I was. He smashed the walker's skull in with his weapon and held his hand out. "Come on, we need to get inside."

I looked at his hand with wide eyes and felt my heart race. I still couldn't get myself to move. My eyes looked at his lips telling me to get up, but I was tuning him out. I couldn't focus on anything besides that walker. Besides fear. I was freezing up and that had never happened to me before.

The next thing I knew, Gabe was picking me up and carrying me away from the scene. It was all a blur, but I could feel myself hyperventilating as his feet moved us to the shed. Once we were inside, he set me down on the table in the middle of the room and stood back. He breathed heavily as his eyes darted around the room and then back at me. I tried to calm myself down, and I think he was doing the same. He looked worried and nervous. "Clem, that walker..." he said with a concerned look. "I think it bit you."

_Right. He still didn't know about my leg, I guess. _I looked up at him slowly. "Maya didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

With a heavy sigh, I pulled up the pant leg to just below my knee, revealing the prosthetic leg under it. He blinked a couple times and stepped closer to get a better look. "I got bit, and I had to cut it off," I said, recalling the recent past. Gabe nodded and didn't speak for a couple of seconds as he continued staring at my leg. I wondered what he was thinking. I couldn't tell if the look on his face was shock, pity, fear, or a mix of all three. He placed his hands in his pockets, his mouth twitched with uncertainty before responding to me.

"So, is that why you couldn't move earlier? Because you've been bitten before?" he asked me. "You're like, traumatized or something, right?"

_Traumatized. _The way I froze up and had flashbacks to when I got bit wasn't something that normally happened to me when I was killing walkers. _I was traumatized. Huh..._

"I... I guess I am," I exhaled, putting my hands on my lap. I thought more about it and let out a nervous laugh. "Shit, I'm scared of walkers..."

"There's probably worse things that could happen. Don't worry," Gabe told me, trying to reassure me that everything was okay.

"Like what? Not being able to move when a walker comes up to you? Sounds pretty bad to me."

He scratched his head while looking down. "I mean, yeah, that does sound bad," he replied. "Sorry, I feel like I'm saying all the wrong things. I just... I don't know."

Gabe walked over to where I was at and lifted himself onto the table to sit next to me. He wasn't really saying anything to help me, but it wasn't his fault. Even I didn't know what to do with all of this. How could I have a fear of walkers after all I've been through? My heart still felt like it was beating fast and my nerves were still on edge. Even my breathing hadn't steadied yet. I pulled my pant leg back over my prosthetic and took a deep breath, feeling a little frustrated with my new revelation. "It's okay Gabe, maybe just... talk about something else. So I can calm down or whatever."

"I can try," he said, tapping his finger against the table until he thought of something to say. "Laine and Tyler have been going out every day to see if our group's come back for us, but they haven't shown up. I'm starting to wonder if they're coming to get all of us."

I raised an eyebrow at him while I tried to get my breathing back to a normal rate. "Really? You think you guys will need to stay longer?"

"If that's okay with you, Clem. We don't know where else to go. There's nothing else out here for miles."

"Of course," I smiled at him. How could I say no? "Everyone has been good and helpful to us these past couple of days. Not to mention, Gabe, I trust you."

He chuckled and looked down. "That's good to hear," he commented. By the focused look on his face, I could tell he was trying to come up with something else to talk about. I looked over and saw his eyes focused on my hand. "I never asked how you got that tattoo on your hand," he said while pointing at it.

I gazed down at my hand and looked at the letters spelling "AJ" that were permanently etched on my skin. It was faded now, compared to when I first got it. "This girl I used to know, Jane, did this," I replied, turning my hand at a different angle for a better look. I had mixed feelings about Jane after the mind game she put me through. She was the reason Kenny lost it, and I wasn't sure what to do other than shoot. It's a decision I regretted but had to live with. Nevertheless, she didn't do that bad of a job on the tattoo, considering all she used was ink and a needle.

"Looks better than mine," Gabe said, rolling down his sleeve and showing me his forearm.

I squinted my eyes at the symbol written across his skin, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to say. "Um, I don't know what that is," I admitted to him.

"Exactly my point," he laughed. "It's supposed to say Mari. You know, for my sister, Mariana. This guy I knew tried to do it for me, but I think I was allergic to whatever needle he was using and he didn't get to finish it."

_That's unfortunate. It looks pretty bad. _"It's not that bad," I reassured him, knowing that whatever was scribbled on his arm was incomprehensible.

"Are you lying?"

"No, I mean it." _Sometimes lying for a good cause is okay. _"If I look at it from a certain angle, it almost looks like it says Maya."

He looked taken aback by my observation. "Thank God it doesn't say that," he said, pulling his sleeve back down.

I had to say, I was confused as to why he was so opposed to Maya. She was a pretty girl, and it seemed like they had a somewhat close relationship. They bickered a lot but it was a sign of comfortableness, nonetheless. "You seem close with Maya," I noted, watching as he finished adjusting his shirt sleeve. "Did anything ever happen with you two?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No, nothing like that," he responded. "She's nice and everything, but," he paused, only for a second. "It's just that she reminds me of Mariana."

_Was Mariana really that wild? _"Mariana?" I asked, trying to get confirmation that I heard him correctly.

"W-well," he stuttered, "Not _everything_ about her is like Mariana. It's just the way that Maya is always so positive about everything. She's carefree, like the world around her hasn't gone to shit even though it has. Mari was like that, too."

I could see why Gabe saw a bit of Mariana in Maya's personality. Hell, they even looked a little similar from what I could remember. Of course that's not saying much, considering I last saw Mariana only for a short period of time while she was ten years old. "I see now," I replied, then smiled. "Hey, maybe if we ever run into some ink, we can fix that tattoo of yours so people can actually read it."

A corner of his mouth tugged upwards at the idea. "I'd like that, especially if it'll look like yours. Your tattoo looks bad-ass."

With a small laugh, I held out my hand. "Thanks, but I'm not sure I'd refer to it as 'bad-ass'. It's just a name."

"But it's such a smooth job," he complimented, reaching out to grab my hand so he could get a better look. It made me feel a little nervous, only because of what Louis had told me the other day about Gabe. '_Oh, he totally had googly-eyes. He's got a thing for you'_. I was almost certain that Gabe didn't have feelings for me, but the way he grabbed my hand out of nowhere startled me. _He's just trying to look at your tattoo, nothing more. It's not a big deal._

I raised an eyebrow at him as he continued to talk. "It's a little faded out, but maybe you can get a touch-up, too. Just gotta find that ink."

"Yeah, maybe there's some ink lying around the school," I added in, trying to push my inner thoughts aside.

Without notice, the door to the shed abruptly opened. Ruby was there, AJ by her side. "We came to see if y'all needed any help, and then we saw all these walkers along the way," Ruby spoke up. "Everything okay?"

AJ looked directly at me, then his gaze moving slightly to the side. "What are you doing?" he asked, causing me to shift my attention to what he was looking at. It was my hand. And Gabe's hand. We were still holding hands. _Fuck..._

Quickly, I pulled my hand away and looked over to Gabe. "He was just helping me calm down. I got overwhelmed out there with all the walkers," I explained, then looked to AJ. He gave me a puzzled look before nodding. Why was it that Ruby and AJ had walked in on yet _another _embarrassing moment? I was having the worst luck lately.

Ruby gave me a questioning look before speaking up again. "Gabe, your group is waitin' on you back at the school, I think they wanted to check in with you."

"Right, I'll take the supplies and head back," he responded, hopping off of the table. Gabe turned to me and helped me off the table. Once I was on the ground and standing up, he nodded to me. "See you there, Clem."

He grabbed the bucket of supplies from the corner of the shed before heading outside. I walked over to meet Ruby and AJ by the door. "Are you okay, Clem?" AJ questioned. "Did the walkers get you?"

"No, no, I'm fine," I assured him, kneeling down and opening my arms to him. He embraced me and I smiled as I patted him on the back. I hated that I was making him worried lately. I had to get a handle on this whole leg thing before it got the best of me. "Now come on, let's get back to the school."

* * *

**AJ**

I had a weird feeling about that 'Gabe' guy. I know Clem said she knew him from before and trusted him, but I still didn't exactly know how to feel about him. And earlier when Ruby and I went to the shed, he was holding Clem's hand! I don't know a lot about that kind of stuff, but I know that's something only Louis and Clem do. Gabe shouldn't be doing that, because that's... not good. I just hoped that the new group wouldn't cause problems with our group.

It was still daytime, so everyone was doing their own thing and keeping busy. Clem was helping Ruby with something outside, so I decided to go see what Violet and Louis were up to. I left my room and walked through the hallway when I heard people talking. One of the voices sounded like Gabe, so I wanted to know what this was about. I walked closer to the door where it seemed like the talking was coming from. The voices were talking quietly, but I knew I'd be able to hear them if I just got a little closer. I pressed my ear against the door and listened.

"I know, I know," I heard Gabe say. "It's just that-"

The next person I heard sounded like the older guy, Laine. "No, that's not what we're here for. End of story. We can't sit around getting too comfortable. Our group will be back any day now."

"Doesn't seem like they're coming. It's been days." It sounded like Maya. "But Gabe, Laine is right. What you're talking about, it's not gonna happen."

"You don't know that..."

"I know that she has a _boyfriend_. You can't be getting feelings like this towards her."

It sounded like they were talking about Clementine. I pressed my ear even more against the door to make sure I didn't miss anything.

"It's not just me! When we were holding hands, she-"

Maya laughed while he was in the middle of talking. "Dude, just stop right there. You can't be doing that. Do you know how pissed her boyfriend would be if he found out?"

"He won't find out. I know what I'm doing."

"You sound delusional."

"Gabe," Laine said. "I don't want to hear about this again. This discussion is over. Now, where's Tyler? We need to talk with him, too."

I heard footsteps towards the door, so I hurried away and went upstairs. Once I was far away enough, I let out a deep breath. So I was right? Gabe did have a crush on Clementine. I could tell by the way he acted around her, and especially when he was holding her hand in the shed. I didn't like it, because I knew I had to protect Clementine no matter what.

Why did Gabe feel that way about Clem even though she was with Louis anyway? It didn't make sense to me. This 'love' stuff was getting on my nerves...

I went into the office and found Violet and Louis there in the middle of a conversation. Violet was sitting in Marlon's old chair while Louis was sitting on the edge of the desk.

"They've been helpful so far, I guess letting them stay wouldn't be that bad. At least for the time being," Violet said, nodding her head at Louis.

"I agree," he said back. "Though, we're going to need a lot more food to make sure everyone can eat. We haven't had this many people in a long time."

"We'll figure it out, don't worry."

I walked more into the room and they both looked over. "What's up, little man?" Louis said to me with a smile.

Violet looked over to me too and said, "Hey, AJ. Everything okay?"

"You're letting them stay?" I asked, stepping forward. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"Yeah, they're staying for now," Violet said back. "You okay with that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know about that 'Gabe' guy," I admitted, then crossed my arms. "I think he likes Clem."

Violet's eyes, or eye, got big and she turned to Louis. He looked surprised, too. "You think?" Violet asked.

Louis kinda laughed and shook his head. "He does, but there's nothing to worry about."

"Wait, let me get this straight. You _know _this guy likes your girlfriend, but it's okay?" Violet questioned him. "I'd be a little more worried if I were you, Louis."

"I mean, you can't blame the guy for liking Clem," Louis joked. Violet only rolled her eyes and gave him a look that she always gave him. "He can feel however he wants to, it's not like anything would happen. I trust Clementine."

I had the feeling he didn't know anything about what I saw earlier. I wasn't sure if it would be the right to tell him about it, but I ended up blurting it out anyway. "But," I said, "they were holding hands!"

Louis's smile went away quick, and Violet raised her eyebrows. "Still feeling sure of yourself, Louis?" Violet joked with him.

"Wait, what do you mean by _holding hands_?" he asked me. "Maybe he was helping her stand up, or keep her balance or something?"

I shook my head. "No, they were sitting down next to each other and holding hands."

Louis looked down at the floor with wide eyes while Violet stood up. She patted him on the back before saying, "Don't worry, Lou. I'm sure they'll invite you to the wedding."

"Wedding?" I asked, confused. "What's a wedding?"

"Something that's not going to happen," Louis said, glaring at Violet. "It's probably just a big misunderstanding, right?" he continued, throwing his arms in the air. He laughed, but it sounded like he was nervous. "You know what? I'll just clear this up right now and ask Clem about it."

As he started walking to the door, Violet stopped him. "Louis, take it from another girl: Don't go questioning her about this. She's going to think you don't trust her."

"I do trust her. I just don't trust that guy."

"You interrogating her about it won't make it seem that way."

I rolled my eyes at them and looked to the corner of the room where Rosie was resting on her bed. Walking over to her, I smiled. I liked Rosie. She didn't have weird problems to complain about like teenagers did. I wish I had someone my age, like Tenn. I sighed and pet Rosie to make time go by faster.

* * *

**Clementine**

I stared at the tree in front of me, trying to concentrate. _Just focus on the tree, and… be the tree. That's how it works, right?_ I wasn't too sure if I was doing it correctly, but it was the only yoga pose that I learned when I was in school. It was also the only thing that could think of to help me get better balance. What happened to me earlier couldn't happen again. Me falling down while a walker was attacking me could've gone a lot worse, especially if Gabe hadn't been there to help.

But I couldn't rely on others to help me all the time. If I learned how to keep my balance standing on only one leg at a time, then at the very least, I could manage not to fall down the next time my life was depending on it. I felt stupid standing there in the 'tree' pose, but I made sure to stand on the corner of the little cemetery we had. It was out of sight from everyone who was outside. Or so I thought.

I took my left leg off of the ground and tried to balance on my reliable right leg. _Closing your eyes helps, I think. It helps you focus or something._ I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. _Hm, never thought I'd take up meditating._ Letting my breath back out, I opened up my eyes and sensed something to the right side of me. I looked over and gasped when I saw Maya standing there.

She was doing the same pose as I was and looked over at me when she noticed my shock. "What are you doing?" I asked, confused on how she got here without me noticing.

"Figured I'd join you," she replied, a relaxed expression on her face. "I could use a break from all the guys out there."

I understood how tiring it could be to hang around boys all the time. Hell, I did it for years. Sometimes it was hard to come across women these days, too. I shrugged and continued to practice my balancing, but the more I continued at it, the more I questioned why I was even trying. "I don't think this is helping," I admitted out loud. I could already feel the sweat starting to build on my forehead. _Why was I so tired?_

Maya stepped in front of me and examined my face. "You look exhausted," she commented while looking at me up and down.

"Yeah," I replied. "I guess I am."

"Let's just sit down, it's too hot to be doing exercises," Maya responded, and tugged on my arm. We both sat on the ground and leaned back against the tree in the shade.

For once in a long time, things looked so green and alive. The trees, grass, everything. With the occasional rain and constant sunshine, the plant-life around the school started to thrive. It was good for us because berries were starting to grow, and the green made the area look lively, despite all the dead walking around.

Maya let out a sigh as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, letting out a smile. "So, Gabe tells me that you're okay with letting us stay longer?" she asked me in a calm tone. She seemed relaxed, which was ironic considering how the day started out.

I nodded and said, "You've all been helpful around here. I don't see why not."

She grinned and put a hand on my shoulder. "You're a lifesaver, Clementine. Literally."

"Thanks, I guess," I said, chuckling at her response.

"No, really. It's so refreshing being here. No adults- well, besides Laine. And there's everything you need out there like rabbits and fish. Your group is lucky to have found this place," she explained to me.

I agreed. Even I felt lucky to be here. It was the perfect place to raise AJ and do more than just survive. After thinking about how lucky I was to be at this school, I started thinking: can it be too perfect? Everything was going so well considering we met some new people and they all turned out not to be raiders or bad people. Instead, they're a temporary addition to our community. If everything kept going this smoothly in the future, I was going to start getting suspicious.

In the distance, I saw Louis and Violet emerge from the school building. I saw Louis turning his head from side to side, searching for something, while Violet had a hold of his arm. It looked like she was trying to stop him from doing something. Once his eyes met mine, he waved frantically and started walking towards me. Violet shrugged and sat on the steps of the school. _What was going on with them? They were acting strange..._

Once Louis made it over to me, he greeted us with a nervous smile. "Clem, can we talk for a minute?" he asked me, and glanced over to Maya.

I looked over at her and saw that she had an awkward look on her face. "Don't worry, I'll let you two have your space," she quickly said, standing up and scurrying away. _Did everyone else know what was up besides me?_

"O...kay...," I said slowly, patting the spot next to me where Maya had been sitting. "Let's talk."

Louis sat down and turned his body to face me. "So, Clem..." he started in a weird tone of voice.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, Louis?"

"I, uh, I was just wondering..." he trailed off again, seemingly unable to find the right words for what he wanted to say.

"You feeling okay?"

"I'm great!" he chuckled nervously. "I just wanted to know, actually, if there was anything _you _wanted to tell me."

"Me?" I asked, pointing to myself.

"Yeah, you know. Anything new? It's always good to be on the same page, right?" he asked me, tugging at the collar of his shirt. He'd usually tug at his coat that way, but this heat wave caused everyone to leave their jackets to the side for the time being.

_Okay, this is strange, but I guess I'll play along. _"Well, if you want to know, I did have some kind of... revelation today," I told him, twiddling my thumbs while I thought back to earlier today with the walker.

"A revelation?"

"Yeah. Gabe actually helped me realize it," I said with a half smile towards him.

"Gabe?" he asked with wide eyes.

I wasn't sure why he was acting so weird. Sure, Louis wasn't the most normal person, but this was different. "Yes... Something happened earlier that made me realize a problem I have."

"A problem?"

"Are you going to keep asking vague questions or are you going to let me finish?" I said, snapping on him. A random wave of annoyance hit me out of nowhere. I instantly felt bad once I saw the look of shock on his face. "Sorry, just, let me finish," I asked of him while brushing hair out of my face. "Please."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm all ears," he told me, plastering a grin on his face. I rolled my eyes at his fake smile and couldn't help but let the corners of my mouth turn upwards.

I decided to just get to the point. "Long story short, a walker got a hold of my new 'leg' and I froze up. Gabe had to help me to the fishing shed since I couldn't move," I revealed to Louis. "He told me I was probably traumatized since I had to cut off my leg not that long ago. And this was my first time killing walkers in a while."

Louis immediately grabbed my hand. "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt, right?" His eyes looked me over for any type of injury I might've had.

"I'm okay, Louis. I was just a little shaken up," I admitted. "I asked Gabe to help me calm down before we headed back."

"I should've been there," he said, coming closer and pulling me in for a hug.

I smiled and closed my eyes as I embraced him back. "It's not your fault, Louis. I had to get back out there eventually."

I could feel him nod his head. "But you know I'm here for you, right?"

"I know," I said warmly, pulling away and looking at my boyfriend. Gazing at his amber eyes and freckles was something I could never get tired of doing. All of the intricate details of his face was so captivating to me. I noticed that he was staring at my face too and I smiled at him. "What're you looking at?"

He tilted his head and squinted his eyes while his eyes scanned what was in front of him. "I think you've got something on your shirt."

I raised an eyebrow at his attempt at a joke. "I'm not falling for that one."

"Aw man!" he whined playfully. "It worked the first five times I tried it."

"And now I've learned my lesson."

"I'll catch you slipping up one day, Clem."

"I never slip up."

He looked down at my leg. "Yeah, about that..."

I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved him to the side. "Don't you have things you need to be doing right now?"

"Oh, come on! I just got here. I haven't talked to you all day," he whined, reaching a hand out and caressing the side of my face. "Getting tired of me already?"

I smiled and placed my hand on top of his. "I think I can handle another month or two of you."

"Eh, I'll take what I can get," he shrugged, then leaned in to kiss me. I happily kissed him back and basked in the moment.

A sudden wave of sleepiness hit me out of nowhere. The combination of the sun, the comforting feeling of Louis and I being so close, and the stress from earlier was enough to make me want to drift off. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping myself awake until I opened my eyes to Louis waving a hand in front of my face. "Hello? Earth to Clementine," he said in a sing-song tone.

I rubbed my eyes to try and wake myself up. "Sorry, I guess it's just been a long day for me."

"For a second there I thought you might have died on me," he laughed. I raised an eyebrow at him while he continued smiling. "What? They don't call me lady-killer for nothing," he said with a wink.

"No one calls you that," I said with an eye-roll. "Can you help me up? I should probably go check on AJ."

"Of course, I think he went to your room."

* * *

I walked up the steps of the school and entered through the front door. I thought of AJ and what he might be up to when I'm not around. He was growing up so fast right before my eyes. I always tried to teach him everything I know, but now he was starting to figure things out for himself. The only thing I could do now was try to guide him in the right path when he needed it. Lately, he hadn't been needing my help. I needed his.

Just like Louis said, AJ was in our room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed with disco broccoli by his side and a paper in his hands. He was staring at it intently, his eyes going back and forth as if he was reading a paragraph. I walked in and smiled at the little boy before me. He always looked so cute when he was trying to focus. "Hey, goofball. Whatcha up to?" I inquired, walking closer to him. "Practicing your reading?"

"I hope not," he answered, which threw me off. _What did he mean by that?_

I scratched the top of my head in confusion. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," he continued, hopping off of the bed and moving towards me. "If I'm reading this right, we might be in trouble."

He handed me the sheet of paper and I grabbed it from his hands slowly, unsure of what to think. It had handwriting on it, and only one word written across the page. As I read it, my mind came to a realization on why this word was so familiar. _Could this mean..._

"AJ, where did you find this?"

"In the new people's room."

I was getting ready to reprimand him for taking things from people, but then he spoke up again. "It was just sitting there on the floor! I wanted to read it," he explained.

His reason didn't excuse the fact that he stole out of someone's room, but this was potentially more important than that. _If this was what I thought it was, then... fuck._ I wasn't sure what to say. Hell, I wasn't even sure what to think.

"Clem?" AJ asked, probably noticing my silence. "What do you think we should do?"

_Right. What should we do?_ Before I could answer him, I heard a light shuffling noise come from behind me. I turned around to fine Laine standing in the doorway. He eyed what I was holding in my hand.

"So, you found my note."

* * *

**Next chapter will be longer, I promise! Stay tuned!**


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